Apparatus and methods for automated highlight reel creation in a content delivery network

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for the automated creation of targeted or focused content extractions and/or compilations (e.g., highlight reels). In one embodiment, the extractions or compilations are created for use in a content delivery network. In one variant, incoming live feeds are recorded. Time-stamped metadata from sources (either internal or external) able to identify moments and events of interest is used to parse or select portions of the live feeds to generate clips related thereto. Those clips are then sent to users (including optionally their mobile devices) for viewing. In some embodiments, a recommendation engine is used to select clips matching interests of a particular user or group of users. Varied sources of metadata may be used, and networked resources may be utilized to in the implementation of internal “excitement” monitoring systems. Myriad configurations may be implemented including server or head-end based configurations, consumer premises based deployments, and/or distributed implementations.

PRIORITY AND RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/289,798 filed on Oct. 10, 2016 of the sametitle, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 10,250,932 on Apr. 2, 2019, which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/439,683 filed on Apr. 4, 2012 of the same title, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,467,723 on Oct. 11, 2016, each of which are incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. In addition, the present application isrelated to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/913,064filed Aug. 6, 2004 and entitled “TECHNIQUE FOR DELIVERING PROGRAMMINGCONTENT BASED ON A MODIFIED NETWORK PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER SERVICE”,U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/414,554 filed Mar. 30, 2009 andentitled “PERSONAL MEDIA CHANNEL APPARATUS AND METHODS”, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/414,576 filed Mar. 30, 2009, entitled“RECOMMENDATION ENGINE APPARATUS AND METHODS”, and issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,215,423 on Dec. 15, 2015, U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/403,802 filed Feb. 23, 2012 and entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS FORPROVIDING CONTENT TO AN IP-ENABLED DEVICE IN A CONTENT DISTRIBUTIONNETWORK”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/403,814 filed Feb. 23,2012 entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CONTENT DISTRIBUTION TOPACKET-ENABLED DEVICES VIA A NETWORK BRIDGE”, and issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,426,123 on Aug. 23, 2016, each of the foregoing being incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of data and contentdistribution networks. More specifically, the present invention relatesin one exemplary aspect to methods and apparatus for automated creationof targeted or focused content extractions and/or compilations (e.g.,highlight reel creation).

2. Description of Related Technology

The manual aggregation of highlights or other video shorts associatedwith various events or content elements (e.g., sports events, news,politics, reality television, etc.) into a series for quick review ormontage is well known in the art. Such a manually composed series can beused to summarize the events of note from a past period of time. Theseseries are common in sports broadcasts such as “Sportscenter®” on ESPN®,or for instance in “year in review” type pieces offered by newsorganizations at the end of a year, decade, etc. Typically, thesecollections of video shorts are used to inform viewers of eventsoccurring earlier in the day, previous day, previous year, etc.

In the particular context of professional football, NFL (NationalFootball League) RedZone offers game-day highlights and touchdowns onSunday afternoons. Specifically, NFL RedZone promises to show everytouchdown from every game, as well as other highlights. In addition, theservice also presents viewers with a live broadcast whenever a teamreaches the “red zone” (inside the defender's 20 yard line) of theopposing team. However, this service only applies to football played inthe NFL, and the only definable metric the service relies upon is thedistance to the goal.

Further, services like NFL Sunday Ticket™ offer wide ranging access to aspecific set of content (i.e., NFL football games being played on anygiven Sunday). However, such services fail to identify which of theavailable content may be of particular interest to a user. Thus, a useris given access to more content that can be consumed (multiple airedgames may be played simultaneously) without guidance as to the optimalcontent to view. Again, this system only applies to football gamesplayed in the NFL.

News services also create their own compilations or montages, such as tofit within a specified time slot in a news broadcast. Again, suchcompilations are manually created, and based on selection and placementand editing by one or more humans. However, there is an inherent delayassociated with human identification of such exciting clips. Thus,moments of excitement are often missed by content consumers withinterest in experiencing such content live or in near-real-time.

Further, it is impractical for an individual content provider tomaintain the staffing necessary to monitor all incoming content from allof its content sources at all times for excitement. In addition, evenmore staff would be needed to tailor collections or series of theseclips to the interests and viewing desires of individual subscribers.

Thus, methods and architectures for automated means of identifyingcontent of interest are needed to overcome these impracticalities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides, inter alia, apparatus and methods forsubstantially automated creation of targeted or focused contentextractions and/or compilations (e.g., highlight reels).

In a first aspect of the invention, a method for identification ofexciting content in a content delivery network is disclosed. In oneembodiment, the method includes: receiving metadata from one or moresources, comparing the metadata to data related to a plurality ofavailable content, and based at least in part on the comparison,identifying individual ones of the plurality of available contentrelated to the metadata. In one variant, the metadata includesinformation identifying an exciting event.

In a second aspect of the invention, a method for identification ofexciting content in a content delivery network is disclosed. In oneembodiment, the method includes measuring an excitement metric,generating metadata based on results from the act of measuring, addingtime data associated with the act of measuring to the metadata, andadding, to the metadata, information enabling identification of one ormore of (a) a particular one of a plurality of content, and (b) acontent source.

In a third aspect of the invention, a content server apparatus operativeto generate content having a particular attribute for delivery over acontent distribution network is disclosed. In one embodiment theapparatus includes a storage device, a plurality of interfaces, and aprocessing entity in data communication with the plurality of interfacesand the storage device. The plurality of interfaces is configured toreceive one or more feeds from one or more content sources; receivemetadata from an identification source, the identification sourceconfigured to identify content having the particular attribute; andtransmit a content stream to a target device.

In one variant, the processing entity is in one variant configured torun an application thereon configured to record a portion of the one ormore feeds, store the portion on the storage device, compare time datapresent within the metadata to a time associated with the recordedportion, based on the comparison, associate the metadata with therecorded portion, evaluate at least one criterion based at least in parton the associated metadata, and if the evaluation indicates that the oneor more criterion is/are met, add the recorded portion to the contentstream.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, a mobile device enabled for receiptand management of exciting content is disclosed. In one embodiment thedevice includes a user interface configured to: (a) accept input from auser identifying an excitement level threshold, (b) present a listcontaining a plurality content with an excitement level above thethreshold, (c) allow the user to browse the list, and (d) receive fromthe user a request for a particular one of the plurality of content, anda wireless interface configured to transmit the user request to acontent server apparatus.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, an apparatus for generation ofhighlight reels in a content delivery network is disclosed. In oneembodiment, the apparatus includes one or more interfaces for receivingmetadata from one or more sources, one or more interfaces for receivingcontent from one or more feeds, and a content server entity with aprocessing unit associated therewith, the processing unit in datacommunication with at least one storage device, the processing unitconfigured to run a computer program thereon. In one variant, thecomputer program is configured to, when executed: (a) record at leastone content element received over the one or more feeds, (b) store theat least one recorded feed on the storage device, (c) identify metadatarelated to the at least one recorded feed, the identified metadatahaving been received over at least one of the one or more sources, (d)compare the metadata to information related to the at least one recordedfeed, and (e) based at least in part on the comparison, cause provisionof at least of portion of the at least one recorded feed at least oneclient device of the network. The metadata includes data related to anoccurrence of an exciting event.

In a sixth aspect of the invention, a non-transitory computer readableapparatus configured to store a computer program thereon is disclosed.In one embodiment, the computer program includes a plurality ofinstructions configured to, when executed: measure an excitement metric,generate metadata from a value associated with the measurement, add timedata to the metadata, and compare the value to a set of criteria. In onevariant, the set of criteria includes at least one threshold value.

In a seventh aspect of the invention, a method for identifying contentis disclosed. In one embodiment, the content is exciting content, andthe identification is performed using social media by at least:monitoring user posts, translating the user posts into machine readabledata, developing an aggregate opinion from the machine readable data,and generating metadata from the aggregate opinion. The aggregateopinion is related to interest expressed, within the user posts, for anindividual one of a plurality of available content.

In an eighth aspect of the invention, a system for substantiallyautomated creation of targeted or focused content extractions and/orcompilations is disclosed.

These and other aspects of the invention shall become apparent whenconsidered in light of the disclosure provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary hybridfiber/coax (HFC) cable network configuration useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 1a is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplary HFCcable network headend configuration useful with the present invention.

FIG. 1b is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplary localservice node configuration useful with the present invention.

FIG. 1c is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplarybroadcast switched architecture (BSA) network useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 1d is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplarypacketized content delivery network architecture useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplaryembodiment of an apparatus configured for the automated generation oftargeted or focused content extractions and/or compilations (e.g.,highlight reels) according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplary headendconfiguration useful with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplary consumerpremises equipment (CPE) configuration useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 5a is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplarydistributed computing environment useful with the present invention.

FIG. 5b is a functional block diagram illustrating an alternativeexemplary distributed computing environment useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method forthe automated generation of a highlight reel according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 7a is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method forthe generation on collection of excitement metadata according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 7b is a logical flow diagram illustrating another embodiment of themethod for the generation on collection of excitement metadata accordingto the present invention.

All Figures © Copyright 2011-2012 Time Warner Cable, Inc. All rightsreserved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like numerals refer tolike parts throughout.

As used herein, the term “application” refers generally to a unit ofexecutable software that implements a certain functionality or theme.The themes of applications vary broadly across any number of disciplinesand functions (such as on-demand content management, e-commercetransactions, brokerage transactions, home entertainment, calculatoretc.), and one application may have more than one theme. The unit ofexecutable software generally runs in a predetermined environment; forexample, the unit could comprise a downloadable Java Xlet™ that runswithin the JavaTV™ environment.

As used herein, the terms “client device” and “end user device” include,but are not limited to, set-top boxes (e.g., DSTBs), gateways, personalcomputers (PCs), and minicomputers, whether desktop, laptop, orotherwise, and mobile devices such as handheld computers, PDAs, personalmedia devices (PMDs), and smartphones.

As used herein, the term “codec” refers to an video, audio, or otherdata coding and/or decoding algorithm, process or apparatus including,without limitation, those of the MPEG (e.g., MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4,MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-4 Part 10, etc.), Real (RealVideo, etc.), AC-3(audio), DiVX, XViD/ViDX, Windows Media Video (e.g., WMV 7, 8, or 9),ATI Video codec, H.263, H.264, Sorenson Spark, FFmpeg, 3ivx, x264, VP6,VP6-E, VP6-S, VP7, Sorenson 3, Theora, Cinepack, Huffyuv, Lagarith,SheerVideo, Mobiclip or VC-1 (SMPTE standard 421M) families.

As used herein, the term “computer program” or “software” is meant toinclude any sequence or human or machine cognizable steps which performa function. Such program may be rendered in virtually any programminglanguage or environment including, for example, C/C++, Fortran, COBOL,PASCAL, assembly language, markup languages (e.g., HTML, SGML, XML,VoXML), and the like, as well as object-oriented environments such asthe Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Java™ (includingJ2ME, Java Beans, etc.), Binary Runtime Environment (e.g., BREW), andthe like.

The terms “Consumer Premises Equipment (CPE)” and “host device” refer toany type of electronic equipment located within a consumer's or user'spremises and connected to a network. The term “host device” refersgenerally to a terminal device that has access to digital televisioncontent via a satellite, cable, or terrestrial network. The host devicefunctionality may be integrated into a digital television (DTV) set. Theterm “consumer premises equipment” (CPE) includes such electronicequipment such as set-top boxes, televisions, Digital Video Recorders(DVR), gateway storage devices (Furnace), and ITV Personal Computers, aswell as client devices.

As used herein, the term “display” means any type of device adapted todisplay information, including without limitation: CRTs, LCDs, TFTs,plasma displays, LEDs, incandescent and fluorescent devices. Displaydevices may also include less dynamic rendering devices such as, forexample, printers, e-ink devices, and the like.

As used herein, the term “DOCSIS” refers to any of the existing orplanned variants of the Data Over Cable Services InterfaceSpecification, including for example DOCSIS versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and3.0. As used herein, the term “DVR” (digital video recorder) refersgenerally to any type of recording mechanism and/or softwareenvironment, located in the headend, the user premises or anywhere else,whereby content sent over a network can be recorded and selectivelyrecalled. Such DVR may be dedicated in nature, or part of anon-dedicated or multi-function system.

As used herein, the term “headend” refers generally to a networkedsystem controlled by an operator (e.g., an MSO or multiple systemsoperator) that distributes programming to MSO clientele using clientdevices. Such programming may include literally any informationsource/receiver including, inter alia, free-to-air TV channels, pay TVchannels, interactive TV, and the Internet. Multiple regional headendsmay be in the same or different cities.

As used herein, the terms “Internet” and “internet” are usedinterchangeably to refer to inter-networks including, withoutlimitation, the Internet.

As used herein, the term “memory” includes any type of integratedcircuit or other storage device adapted for storing digital dataincluding, without limitation, ROM. PROM, EEPROM, DRAM, SDRAM, DDR/2SDRAM, EDO/FPMS, RLDRAM, SRAM, “flash” memory (e.g., NAND/NOR), andPSRAM.

As used herein, the terms “microprocessor” and “digital processor” aremeant generally to include all types of digital processing devicesincluding, without limitation, digital signal processors (DSPs), reducedinstruction set computers (RISC), general-purpose (CISC) processors,microprocessors, gate arrays (e.g., FPGAs), PLDs, reconfigurable computefabrics (RCFs), array processors, secure microprocessors, andapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Such digitalprocessors may be contained on a single unitary IC die, or distributedacross multiple components.

As used herein, the terms “MSO” or “multiple systems operator” refer toa cable, fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the curb (FTTC), satellite,or terrestrial network provider having infrastructure required todeliver services including programming and data over those mediums.

As used herein, the terms “network” and “bearer network” refer generallyto any type of telecommunications or data network including, withoutlimitation, hybrid fiber coax (HFC) networks, fiber networks (e.g.,FTTH, Fiber-to-the-curb or FTTC, etc.), satellite networks, telconetworks, and data networks (including MANs, WANs, LANs, WLANs,internets, and intranets).

As used herein, the term “network interface” refers to any signal, data,or software interface with a component, network or process including,without limitation, those of the Firewire (e.g., FW400, FW800, etc.),USB (e.g., USB 2.0 or 3.0), Ethernet (e.g., 10/100, 10/100/1000 (GigabitEthernet), 10-Gig-E, etc.), Thunderbolt, MoCA, Serial ATA (e.g., SATA,e-SATA, SATAII), Ultra-ATA/DMA, Coaxsys (e.g., TVnet™), radio frequencytuner (e.g., in-band or out-of band, cable modem, etc.), Wi-Fi (e.g.,802.11a,b,g,n,v), WiMAX (802.16), PAN (802.15), or IrDA families.

As used herein, the term “node” refers without limitation to anylocation, functional entity, or component within a network.

As used herein, the term “QAM” refers to modulation schemes used forsending signals over cable networks. Such modulation scheme might useany constellation level (e.g. QPSK, QAM-16, QAM-64, QAM-256 etc.)depending on details of a cable network. A QAM may also refer to aphysical channel modulated according to the schemes.

As used herein, the term “server” refers to any computerized component,system or entity regardless of form which is adapted to provide data,files, applications, content, or other services to one or more otherdevices or entities on a computer network.

As used herein, the term “service”, “content”, “program” and “stream”are sometimes used synonymously to refer to a sequence of packetizeddata that is provided in what a subscriber may perceive as a service. A“service” (or “content”, or “stream”) in the former, specialized sensemay correspond to different types of services in the latter,non-technical sense. For example, a “service” in the specialized sensemay correspond to, among others, video broadcast, audio-only broadcast,pay-per-view, or video-on-demand. The perceivable content provided onsuch a “service” may be live, pre-recorded, delimited in time,undelimited in time, or of other descriptions. In some cases, a“service” in the specialized sense may correspond to what a subscriberwould perceive as a “channel” in traditional broadcast television.

As used herein, the term “service group” refers to either a group ofservice users (e.g. subscribers) or the resources shared by them in theform of entire cable RF signal, only the RF channels used to receive theservice or otherwise treated as a single logical unit by the network forresource assignment.

As used herein, the term “storage device” refers to without limitationcomputer hard drives, DVR device, memory, RAID devices or arrays,optical media (e.g., CD-ROMs, Laserdiscs, Blu-Ray, etc.), or any otherdevices or media capable of storing content or other information.

As used herein, the term “user interface” refers to, without limitation,any visual, graphical, tactile, audible, sensory, or other means ofproviding information to and/or receiving information from a user orother entity.

OVERVIEW

In one salient aspect, the present invention discloses methods andapparatus for the automated creation of targeted or focused contentextractions and/or compilations (e.g., highlight reels). In oneembodiment, the extractions or compilations are created for use in amanaged content delivery network such as a cable or satellite televisionnetwork. In one variant, incoming live feeds are recorded. Time-stampedmetadata from sources (either internal or external) able to identifymoments and/or “events” of interest is used to parse or select portionsof the live feeds to generate clips related thereto. Those clips arethen sent to users (including optionally their mobile devices) forviewing. In some embodiments, a recommendation engine is used to selectclips matching interests of a particular user or group of users.

Varied sources of metadata may be used consistent with the invention,and networked resources may be utilized to in the implementation ofinternal “excitement” or other types of monitoring systems. Myriadconfigurations may be implemented including server or head-end basedconfigurations, consumer premises based deployments, and/or distributedimplementations.

Further, clips may be selected, recommended, and/or provisioned tomobile devices (e.g. cell phones, smartphones, tablet computers, etc.)over wired or wireless interfaces.

Service agreements may allow access to clips of limited duration, orexpanded agreements may allow access to all material recommended by agiven excitement data source.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the apparatus and methods of the presentinvention are now described in detail. While these exemplary embodimentsare described in the context of the aforementioned hybrid fiber/coax(HFC) cable system architecture having an multiple systems operator(MSO), digital networking capability, IP delivery capability, andplurality of client devices/CPE, the general principles and advantagesof the invention may be extended to other types of networks andarchitectures, whether broadband, narrowband, wired or wireless, orotherwise (including e.g., managed satellite or hybrid fiber/copper(HFCu) networks, unmanaged networks such as the Internet or WLANs orPANs, etc.), the following therefore being merely exemplary in nature.It will also be appreciated that while described generally in thecontext of a consumer (i.e., home) end user domain, the presentinvention may be readily adapted to other types of environments (e.g.,commercial/enterprise, government/military, etc.) as well. Myriad otherapplications are possible.

It is further noted that while exemplary embodiments are describedprimarily in the context of a hybrid fiber/conductor (e.g., cable)system with legacy 6 MHz RF channels, the present invention isapplicable to literally any network topology or paradigm, and anyfrequency/bandwidth. Furthermore, as referenced above, the invention isin no way limited to traditional cable system frequencies (i.e., below 1GHz), and in fact may be used with systems that operate above 1 GHz bandin center frequency or bandwidth, to include without limitationso-called ultra-wideband systems.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will immediatelybe recognized by persons of ordinary skill in the art given the attacheddrawings and detailed description of exemplary embodiments as givenbelow.

Network—

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical content delivery network configuration withwhich the apparatus and methods of the present invention may be used.The various components of the network 100 include (i) one or more dataand application origination points 102; (ii) one or more content sources103, (iii) one or more application distribution servers 104; (iv) one ormore VOD (video on demand) servers 105, and (v) customer premisesequipment (CPE) 106. The distribution server(s) 104, VOD servers 105 andCPE(s) 106 are connected via a bearer (e.g., HFC) network 101. A simplearchitecture comprising one of each of the aforementioned components102, 104, 105, 106 is shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity, although it willbe recognized that comparable architectures with multiple originationpoints, distribution servers, VOD servers, and/or CPE devices (as wellas different network topologies) may be utilized consistent with theinvention. For example, the headend architecture of FIG. 1a (describedin greater detail below) may be used.

The data/application origination point 102 comprises any medium thatallows data and/or applications (such as a VOD-based or “Watch TV”application) to be transferred to a distribution server 104. This caninclude for example a third party data source, application vendorwebsite, CD-ROM, external network interface, mass storage device (e.g.,RAID system), etc. Such transference may be automatic, initiated uponthe occurrence of one or more specified events (such as the receipt of arequest packet or ACK), performed manually, or accomplished in anynumber of other modes readily recognized by those of ordinary skill.

The application distribution server 104 comprises a computer systemwhere such applications can enter the network system. Distributionservers are well known in the networking arts, and accordingly notdescribed further herein.

The VOD server 105 comprises a computer system where on-demand contentcan be received from one or more of the aforementioned data sources 102and enter the network system. These servers may generate the contentlocally, or alternatively act as a gateway or intermediary from adistant source.

The CPE 106 includes any equipment in the “customers' premises” (orother locations, whether local or remote to the distribution server 104)that can be accessed by a distribution server 104.

Referring now to FIG. 1a , one exemplary embodiment of a headendarchitecture useful with the present invention is described. As shown inFIG. 1a , the headend architecture 150 comprises typical headendcomponents and services including billing module 152, subscribermanagement system (SMS) and CPE configuration management module 154,cable-modem termination system (CMTS) and 00B system 156, as well asLAN(s) 158, 160 placing the various components in data communicationwith one another. It will be appreciated that while a bar or bus LANtopology is illustrated, any number of other arrangements as previouslyreferenced (e.g., ring, star, etc.) may be used consistent with theinvention. It will also be appreciated that the headend configurationdepicted in FIG. 1a is high-level, conceptual architecture and that eachMSO may have multiple headends deployed using custom architectures.

The exemplary architecture 150 of FIG. 1a further includes amultiplexer-encrypter-modulator (MEM) 162 coupled to the HFC network 101adapted to process or condition content for transmission over thenetwork. The distribution servers 164 are coupled to the LAN 160, whichprovides access to the MEM 162 and network 101 via one or more fileservers 170. The VoD servers 105 are coupled to the LAN 160 as well,although other architectures may be employed (such as for example wherethe VoD servers are associated with a core switching device such as an802.3z Gigabit Ethernet device). As previously described, information iscarried across multiple channels. Thus, the headend must be adapted toacquire the information for the carried channels from various sources.Typically, the channels being delivered from the headend 150 to the CPE106 (“downstream”) are multiplexed together in the headend as previouslydescribed, and sent to neighborhood hubs (FIG. 1b ) via a variety ofinterposed network components.

It will also be recognized, however, that the multiplexing operation(s)need not necessarily occur at the headend 150 (e.g., in theaforementioned MEM 162). For example, in one variant, at least a portionof the multiplexing is conducted at a BSA switching node or hub (seediscussion of FIG. 1c provided subsequently herein). As yet anotheralternative, a multi-location or multi-stage approach can be used, suchas that described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,820, entitled “APPARATUS ANDMETHODS FOR MULTI-STAGE MULTIPLEXING IN A NETWORK” incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety, which discloses inter alia improvedmultiplexing apparatus and methods that allow such systems todynamically compensate for content (e.g., advertisements, promotions, orother programs) that is inserted at a downstream network node such as alocal hub, as well as “feed back” and “feed forward” mechanisms fortransferring information between multiplexing stages.

Content (e.g., audio, video, data, files, etc.) is provided in eachdownstream (in-band) channel associated with the relevant service group.To communicate with the headend or intermediary node (e.g., hub server),the CPE 106 may use the out-of-band (OOB) or DOCSIS channels andassociated protocols. The OCAP 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 (and subsequent)specification provides for exemplary networking protocols bothdownstream and upstream, although the invention is in no way limited tothese approaches.

It will also be recognized that the multiple servers (broadcast, VoD, orotherwise) can be used, and disposed at two or more different locationsif desired, such as being part of different server “farms”. Thesemultiple servers can be used to feed one service group, or alternativelydifferent service groups. In a simple architecture, a single server isused to feed one or more service groups. In another variant, multipleservers located at the same location are used to feed one or moreservice groups. In yet another variant, multiple servers disposed atdifferent location are used to feed one or more service groups.

“Switched” Networks—

FIG. 1c illustrates an exemplary configuration of a “switched” networkarchitecture (referenced above), which is also useful with the premisesgateway apparatus and features of the present invention.

Switching architectures allow improved efficiency of bandwidth use forordinary digital broadcast programs. Ideally, the subscriber is unawareof any difference between programs delivered using a switched networkand ordinary streaming broadcast delivery.

FIG. 1c shows the implementation details of one exemplary embodiment ofthis broadcast switched network architecture. Specifically, the headend150 contains switched broadcast control and media path functions 190,192; these element cooperating to control and feed, respectively,downstream or edge switching devices 194 at the hub site which are usedto selectively switch broadcast streams to various service groups. A BSAserver 196 is also disposed at the hub site, and implements functionsrelated to switching and bandwidth conservation (in conjunction with amanagement entity 198 disposed at the headend). An optical transportring 197 is utilized to distribute the dense wave-division multiplexed(DWDM) optical signals to each hub in an efficient fashion.

Co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/956,688 filed Sep. 20,2001, entitled “Technique for Effectively Providing Program Material ina Cable Television System”, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,713,623 onApr. 29, 2014, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety,describes one exemplary broadcast switched digital architecture usefulwith the present invention, although it will be recognized by those ofordinary skill that other approaches and architectures may besubstituted.

In addition to “broadcast” content (e.g., video programming), thesystems of FIGS. 1a and 1c (and FIG. 1d , described below) also deliverInternet data services using the Internet protocol (IP), although otherprotocols and transport mechanisms of the type well known in the digitalcommunication art may be substituted. One exemplary delivery paradigmcomprises delivering MPEG-based video content, with the videotransported to user PCs (or IP-based STBs) over the aforementionedDOCSIS channels comprising MPEG (or other video codec such as H.264 orAVC) over IP over MPEG. That is, the higher layer MPEG- or other encodedcontent is encapsulated using an IP protocol, which then utilizes anMPEG packetization of the type well known in the art for delivery overthe RF channels. In this fashion, a parallel delivery mode to the normalbroadcast delivery exists; i.e., delivery of video content both overtraditional downstream QAMs to the tuner of the user's STB or otherreceiver device for viewing on the television, and also as packetized IPdata over the DOCSIS QAMs to the user's PC or other IP-enabled devicevia the user's cable modem.

Referring again to FIG. 1c , the IP packets associated with Internetservices are received by edge switch 194, and forwarded to the cablemodem termination system (CMTS) 199. The CMTS examines the packets, andforwards packets intended for the local network to the edge switch 194.Other packets are discarded or routed to another component.

The edge switch 194 forwards the packets receive from the CMTS 199 tothe QAM modulator 189, which transmits the packets on one or morephysical (QAM-modulated RF) channels to the CPE. The IP packets aretypically transmitted on RF channels that are different that the RFchannels used for the broadcast video and audio programming, althoughthis is not a requirement. The CPE 106 are each configured to monitorthe particular assigned RF channel (such as via a port or socketID/address, or other such mechanism) for IP packets intended for thesubscriber premises/address that they serve.

“Packetized” Networks—

While the foregoing network architectures described herein can (and infact do) carry packetized content (e.g., IP over MPEG for high-speeddata or Internet TV, MPEG2 packet content over QAM for MPTS, etc.), theyare often not optimized for such delivery. Hence, in accordance withanother embodiment of the present invention, a “packet optimized”delivery network is used for carriage of the packet content (e.g., IPTVcontent). FIG. 1d illustrates one exemplary implementation of such anetwork, in the context of a 3GPP IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) networkwith common control plane and service delivery platform (SDP), asdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/764,746 entitled“METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PACKETIZED CONTENT DELIVERY OVER A CONTENTDELIVERY NETWORK, filed Apr. 21, 2012, incorporated herein in itsentirety. Such a network provides significant enhancements in terms of,inter alia, common control of different services, implementation andmanagement of content delivery sessions according to unicast ormulticast models, etc.; however, it is appreciated that the variousfeatures of the present invention are in no way limited to any of theforegoing architectures.

Automated Highlight Reel Creation Architectures—

Referring now to FIG. 2, one exemplary embodiment of an apparatus 200for the automated generation of highlight reels is shown. The apparatusis useful with the above network types; however, as will be appreciatedfrom the following description, may be used with literally any networktopology.

In the exemplary embodiment, metadata generated by an identificationentity 202 (hereinafter colloquially referred to as the “ExcitementIdentification Source” (EIS)) is used by the apparatus 200. The metadatamay be accompanied by supplemental data supplied by the content source204. Feeds 206 are fed through a media catcher 208 which is in datacommunication with an incoming content storage unit (ICS) 210. The mediacatcher and storage unit is configured to hold an archive of any and allfeeds 206 coming through the media catcher 208. The ICS 210 stores feedcontent from as little as the last few minutes or seconds, up to evenmultiple years, for feed archiving. TA media clipper 212, being in datacommunication with the EIS 202, the content source 204, and the mediacatcher 208, parses the feeds 206 and the archived feeds present in theICS 210 into clips, the parsing based on the metadata from the EIS 202(and the supplemental data from the content source 204 when present). Itcan be appreciated that a given piece of EIS metadata may have a numberof associated feeds and clips (i.e., multiple related commentaries,camera shots/angles, media types, or network presentations, etc.). Theclips (or some portion of the clips) are then forwarded to a contentrepository (CR) 214, where they are maintained in A/V storage 216 untilneeded for viewing.

The media clipper sends the metadata associated with the clips to aHighlight Builder (HB) 218 for holding in metadata storage 220. The HBthen uses user preferences and data from a recommendation engine 222 tobuild a series of highlights for a user or group of users. The HBcompares the user preferences and recommendations to the metadataassociated with the clips. Thus, the HB selects appropriate clips basedon their associated metadata from the EIS 202. The clips are thenordered accordingly and presented in a video stream to a client device224 for display.

The apparatus of FIG. 2 is adapted to operate with a number of differenttypes of EIS 202. EISs are sources of metadata that identify points ofinterest in presentation media. EISs may include for example Twitteraccounts or “hash tags”, social media items (likes, posts, and/ormessages), RSS (Rich Site Summary) feeds, instant messages, emails,network activity alerts, web applications, and/or blogs, etc. In oneembodiment, a spike in twitter hash tags related to a specific subjector person alerts the EIS to generate clips for the preceding or upcomingminutes or hours on feeds with related subject matter. For example, aspike in hash tags related to the President of the United States mayindicate that the President has made or is about to make a comment orannouncement.

In other embodiments, a dedicated RSS feed is used as the EIS. The RSSfeed generates specific messages to alert the system of content ofinterest. For example, an RSS feed dedicated to sports, such as THUUZ®or FanVibe®, or a web application such as, “Are You Watching This?!”running on the RUWTbot engine, provide updates that alert the systemthat a particular game is exciting, or is likely to be exciting at leastmomentarily. Thus, upon recite of such an update, the exemplary videoclipper begins generating clips from the feed showing the appropriategame, so as to capture the points of interest. It will be appreciatedthat the combination of the media catcher 208, the ICS 210, and themedia clipper 212 allow the system to generate clips both from livefeeds and archived feeds. Thus, consistent with the present invention,both real-time (or near-real-time) and non-real-time EISs can be used,including in conjunction with one another.

The metadata from the EIS 202 is then used to properly classify theclips. The classification of the clips assists the HB 218 in selectingappropriate clips based on user preferences and/or user targetedrecommendations. These user (or group of users) targeted recommendationscan be generated using for example the exemplary methods and apparatusdiscussed in co-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/414,554 filed Mar. 30, 2009 and entitled “PERSONAL MEDIA CHANNELAPPARATUS AND METHODS” previously incorporated herein. As discussedtherein, methods and apparatus for “fused” targeted content delivery arepresented. Specifically, a substantially user-friendly mechanism forviewing content compiled from various sources selected to align with auser's preferences is disclosed; the content is displayed as asubstantially continuous stream as part of a “virtual” user-basedchannel or a virtual private media channel (VPMC). In one embodiment, auser profile is constructed and targeted content gathered withoutrequiring any user intervention whatsoever; e.g., based on a user's pastor contemporaneous interactions with respect to particular types ofcontent. The “virtual channel” acts as a centralized interface for theuser and their content selections and preferences, as if the contentrelevant to a given user were in fact streamed over one program channel.

In another aspect of the present invention, the compiled content ispresented to the user in the form of a “playlist” from which a user mayselect desired content for viewing and/or recording. In one variant, auser is also presented with content having varying degrees or aspects ofsimilarity to that presented in the “playlist” or elsewhere, includingcontent listed in the EPG.

In yet another variant, the user's purchase of recommended (andnon-recommended) content is enabled directly from the aforementionedplaylist and/or the virtual channel.

Client applications (e.g., those disposed on a subscriber's CPE, mobiledevices, and/or network servers) are utilized to compile the playlistbased on user-imputed as well as pre-programmed user profiles. Variousfeedback mechanisms may also be utilized to enable the clientapplication to “learn” from the user's activities in order to update theuser profile, and generate more finely-tuned and cogent recommendations.Client applications may also be utilized to manage the seamlesspresentation of content on the aforementioned virtual channel, andlocate/flag various scenes inside selected content for user viewing orediting.

The foregoing disclosures further disclose methods for combiningmultiple profiles to create a composite set of preferences for different“moods” single user (or for a group of users desiring content ofinterest to all parties), which may be utilized consistent with thepresent invention. These techniques may be applied to both primarycontent and advertising (or other forms of secondary content), or eachindividually.

In addition, complimentary user-based recommendation techniques are alsodiscussed in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/414,576 filedMar. 30, 2009, entitled “RECOMMENDATION ENGINE APPARATUS AND METHODS”,and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,215,423 on Dec. 15, 2013, previouslyincorporated herein. As discussed therein, methods and apparatus arepresented for the identification and recommendation of content targetedto a particular user (or group of users) within a network. A mechanismfor particularly selecting content to align with a user's preferences(the latter which the viewer need not enter manually) is discussed. Thecontent is selected through a mechanism to learn (and unlearn) theuser's preferences and which content they are likely to enjoy based onactions taken with regard to the content, so as to more finely tune therecommendations.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the content repository (CR) 214 stores aplurality of clips associated with the metadata used by the highlightbuilder (HB). The content repository stores the clips for future contentstreams ordered by the HB 218. As discussed above, the content streamsin the exemplary implementation are organized by the HB based on the EIS202 metadata, the content source metadata, user preferences, and inputfrom recommendation engines. The content streams are then compiled bythe content repository, and streamed to the client device based theorder set forth by the HB. In some embodiments, the clips may bepresented in a menu for browsing. Thus, the user may view all availableclips, and/or filter the clips based on various options (e.g.,excitement level, recommended clips, subject matter, date/latency,etc.). For example, a user may wish to select from all clips withexcitement level above a given threshold and pertaining to sports.Alternatively, a user may simply wish to browse all clips that have beenrecommended by a recommendation system, or the foregoing (filtered).

It can be appreciated that the system, as discussed, is practiced inmultiple architectures. In some embodiments, the system is substantiallylocated on the headend of content distribution network. In these cases,the live feeds and the content source data are externally provided, andthe client device may include an intermediary CPE 106 or be disposed ona CPE. Further, the EIS may either be an external entity ormonitoring-type application(s) disposed on the headend server. In otherembodiments, the system may be substantially disposed on a CPE (orpremises network of CPE). In these cases the live feeds, the contentsource data, the EIS are all external to the CPE. The system may also bedistributed across a number of components on a content delivery network.

Headend Server Architecture—

Referring now to FIG. 3, one embodiment of the content extractionsand/or compilation (“highlight”) assembly device 300 is shown anddescribed. It will be appreciated that while this apparatus 300 isdescribed primarily in the context of a highlight reel embodiment, theinvention is in no way so limited, and such highlights are but oneexemplary use and application for the technology.

The highlight assembly device 300 is a module adapted to be disposed ona headend server or other network-side entity, and provide contentstreams to CPE 106 and client devices 224 at the user's location. Thefeeds and content source metadata are delivered to the apparatus via thenetwork interface 302. In some embodiments, the EIS metadata alsoarrives via the network interface. The network interface is in datacommunication with the processing unit 304. The processing unit 304 isin data communication with a memory or storage device 306 to provide theprograms running on the processing unit fast memory access. Theprocessing unit stores the incoming feeds on incoming feed storage 310on the mass storage unit 308 for subsequent processing. In oneembodiment, if not received from one or more external sources, the EISmetadata is generated by the excitement monitoring application (EMA)316. The EIS metadata (whether internally or externally created) and thecontent source metadata are provided to the metadata processingapplication 318.

In operation, the metadata processing application splits the live feedsinto clips, and associates metadata with the clips. The clips are sentto the clip repository storage 312 and the associated metadata is storedin the metadata storage 314. Alternatively, in some embodiments, theclips and metadata are stored together in the same storage mode, and insome cases, in the same file.

The highlight reel assembly application (HRAA) 320 reviews the metadata,and compares the metadata to user preferences and recommendation engineinput in order to create series of clips (or single clips) to be playedback to the user, either automatically or upon user request. The HRAA320 generates a playlist containing the series. Then, the contentprovision management application generates a content stream forprovision to the client device 224 (or, in some embodiments, anintermediary CPE 106). The provision of the content stream can occureither through the network interface, or through any of the multitude ofother interfaces 326 disposed on the highlight assembly device 300.

Further, the content rules enforcement application 322 may monitor thecontent series assembly performed by the highlight reel assemblyapplication 320 to enforce restrictions on the latter; e.g., that theassembly application does not use content for which the targetuser/subscriber/CPE lack the rights (or subscriber level) to consume.However, it is envisioned that, in some cases, the MSO may provide thetarget user with a “teaser” (e.g. content from a higher subscriberlevel), or yet to be released content, to entice to user to increasetheir associated subscriber level (or for other promotional reasons).Once assembled, the content may be provided to a used via the contentprovision management application 324.

The network interface 302 comprises any number of high-speed dataconnections to facilitate the inclusion of the highlight reel assemblydevice at the headend of the network. The connections must supplybandwidth sufficient to support the incoming feeds, and include any ofthe interfaces necessary to support any of the network architecturesdiscussed above. Such connections or interfaces may include for instanceGigabit Ethernet/10G, IEEE-1394, Thunderbolt™, or other well knownnetworking technologies.

In an exemplary embodiment, the processing unit 304 and memory 306 arespecifically configured to support the applications running on theprocessing unit. Thus, the processing unit is connected via highbandwidth channels to each of the memory, mass storage, networkinterface, and any other incoming/outgoing interfaces.

As noted above, in some embodiments the EMA 316 monitors variousinformation sources (including Twitter posts, blogs, sports sitecomments, content source webpage posts, and live commentary, etc.) togauge user interest in particular events. Further, the MSO may provideits customers with remotes or other interface options (e.g. on-screendisplay options, telescoping advertisements, web-links, phone/smartphoneapps, etc.) to allow users to identify for a MSO when a particular eventis exciting. Machine intelligence techniques can be applied to thevarious sources. In an exemplary embodiment, the system, upon reviewinga Twitter post, attempts to gauge if the poster of the “tweet” iscurrently finding the event particularly exciting. Then, the systemattempts to corroborate these findings with other such posts (includingposts or information from other sources). Once a finding is made, atime-stamped metadata file is created and passed to the metadataprocessing application. The exemplary implementation of the EMA 316 mustproperly calibrate its analysis for a number of variables, as will bediscussed below.

In some embodiments, all incoming feeds are recorded and placed in massstorage 308. In other embodiments only certain events and/or channelsare recorded. This selection or filtration may be based on past use ofthe recorded feeds, user preferences, and/or ratings, etc. The feeds aretime stamped during the recording process for later reference to the EISand content source metadata.

Once passed to the metadata processing application 318 (either from theEMA 316 or an external EIS), the metadata file is processed for storage.This process includes using the time stamp to identify the portion ofthe captured incoming feed that pertains to the metadata. Thus, theassociated source and time of the event must be identified. This isachieved through comparisons with content source metadata.Alternatively, this may also be achieved through a pre-compiled list ofcontent on each of the various incoming feeds. Once the related portionof an incoming feed is identified, other metadata assisting in theclassification of the clip is appended to the metadata file. This mayinclude subject matter, source, genre, title of the event, date/timeinformation, a brief description of the content, and/or the overalllikelihood that the clip is “newsworthy” (such as by virtue of beingassociated with a known exciting sports player, popular personality,etc.). The clips and metadata are then placed in mass storage 308.

The content rules enforcement application 322 maintains sets of rulesassociated with content and content sources. For example, some contentsources may require that none of their content be replayed withoutexplicit permission from that source. In the case when such permissionis not granted, the content rules enforcement application bars the HRAA320 and the content provision management application from including andreplay clips from that source. Conversely, if the permission is granted,the content rules enforcement application lifts the bar on inclusion andreplay. Further, the content rules enforcement application 322 maycontact the content source to obtain permissions related to a clip.Similarly, sources may have varying preferences for individual pieces ofcontent. In some cases, the content source may limit the time after theinitial broadcast for which clips may be replayed, or limit theirplayback to only certain prescribed periods of the day or week. In thesecases, the content rules enforcement application enforces an expirationdate or other appropriate use restrictions for clips associated thatcontent source.

Once the clips and metadata are available in mass storage, the HRAA 320begins building series of clips (or single clips) for provision tospecific users or groups of users. The HRAA takes pre-set preferences orthose from recommendation engines (based on techniques discussed supra)to generate the highlight collections. In an exemplary embodiment, auser requests clips pertaining to a specific sports team. Then, the HRAAreadies clips related to that sports team. Further, the user may requestclips for that sports team over a given period of time (e.g. the userrequests an update on the past week of Chicago Cubs games). In thiscase, the HRAA automatically locates clips for that team and timeperiod, and compiles reels for play upon an explicit user request, ateaser suggesting interesting content, or as part of a VPMC.

It can also be appreciated the clips need not be assembled only for aspecific user or set of users. In some embodiments, a dedicated clipchannel is created. Thus, any user tuning the logical or physicalchannel associated with the clip channel may view it. These clipchannels may be subject specific. For these dedicated clip channels, theHRAA uses a general set of preferences rather than one specific for aset of users. In some embodiments, the HRAA also accepts input from thecontent rules enforcement application. This input ensures that onlyclips available to the target user or users are included in the series.

After the clip series is compiled by the HRAA 320, the content provisionapplication 324 provides the clips to the user when requested. Thecontent provision application provides the clips through a media streamto a client device operated by the user. In some embodiments, contentprovision application merely directs a separate VOD server to providethe clips in the order set forth by the HRAA. In other embodiments, thecontent provision application itself creates the media stream via theonboard interfaces in the highlight assembly device 300. The contentprovision application also enables and/or enforces rules related to“trick mode” operation (e.g. fast forward, rewind, play, pause, changecamera angle, etc.). In some embodiments, the content rules enforcementapplication provides these rules (as they pertain the user(s) inquestion) to the content provision application. The content provisionapplication may further make use of A/V codecs in the creation of themedia stream.

It is envisioned that in some embodiments, the compilation of a clip orseries of clips may involve some level of processing to generate aplayable media segment (e.g. more processing than simply playing theclips in the designated order), such as transcoding, transrating, and soforth. Co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/970,429 filed Oct.21, 2004 and entitled “PROGRAMMING CONTENT CAPTURING AND PROCESSINGSYSTEM AND METHOD” incorporated by reference herein in its entirety,details methods and apparatus for compiling playable segments fromblocks of media on the fly. As discussed therein, program streams arebroken into segments, and further into blocks to allow of customizableplayback. In an exemplary embodiment, a specific segment is requestedthe associated blocks are identified and then joined. The media is thenpresented to the user. In the case that all blocks associated with agiven segment are not yet available (e.g. not yet processed orbroadcast), the available blocks may be joined to the unavailable blocksand playback may commence prior to the availability of all blocks. Forexample, consistent with the present invention, a user may be enticed toview a series of exciting clips from a sporting event by a short initialclip. However, the full series of clips may include footage not yetbroadcast. Thus, using the techniques described in the above-identifiedapplication, the user may view the series of clips in a single coherentsession despite the fact not all clips were available (or even inexistence) at the time the user began to view the series.

Exemplary CPE—

Referring now to FIG. 4, exemplary consumer premises equipment (CPE) 106consistent with the present invention is shown. In one embodiment, livefeeds are sent to the CPE via one or more of its interfaces 402. Themetadata from the EIS 202 and content source 204 also arrives over theseinterfaces. In some variants, the delivery modality is the same for boththe feeds and metadata, although it may be different. The metadata andincoming feeds are passed into the mass storage unit 408. The massstorage unit has modules for storing incoming feeds, clips, and metadata(items 410, 412, and 414, respectively). The metadata processingapplication 418, running on the processing unit 404, analyzes the EIS202 and content source 204 metadata, and parses the stored live feedsinto clips associated with the individual metadata updates.

Once the clips have been parsed, the highlight reel assembly application(HRAA) 420 begins compiling series of clips and/or individual clips fordisplay to a user (or group of users) associated with the CPE. The HRAA420 uses preferences obtained from the user profile managementapplication 426 to select the clips for inclusion. Furthermore, in someembodiments, the HRAA ensures that the clips included in the compiledseries comply with the content rules based on input from the contentrules enforcement application.

The content rules enforcement application 422 on the CPE has similarfunction to that discussed above with respect to the headendembodiments. The series compiled by the HRAA 420 is used by the mediastream creation application to create a playlist of clips for the useror users of the CPE. Playback of the clips occurs upon request,automatically, or in response to a request to tune to a VPMC.

It is envisioned that when used in conjunction with the above-discussedheadend apparatus, one or more of the functionalities of the CPE mayobviated. Thus, in some embodiments, functionality may be removed fromthe CPE and instead provided by the headend. Conversely, functionalitynot supplied by the headend may be present on the CPE. It will also beappreciated that users may desire repeat functionality on their ownassociated CPE for premium performance and customizability that may notbe offered by the headend-based device.

The interfaces 402 comprise one or more incoming and/or outgoing ports(e.g. serial, network, radio frequency, and/or display, etc.). The livefeeds are sent to the CPE via one or more of these ports. In someembodiments, interface resources such as tuners and/or bandwidth may belimited on any given CPE. Therefore, CPE on a premises network (or othernetwork) may share such resources. Methods and apparatus from sharingthese resources are discussed in co-owned and co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/480,597 filed Jun. 8, 2009, entitled “MEDIABRIDGE APPARATUS AND METHODS,” and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,602,864 onMar. 21, 2017, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Asdiscussed therein, a media bridging apparatus acts as a connectionbetween a portable media device (PMD) and a user's home network. Thisbridging apparatus may be used, for example, to convert content storedon the PMD to a format capable of being presented on a user's set-topbox or other client device. Control of the presentation is also providedby the bridging apparatus. In one embodiment, the apparatus enables auser to access and control playback of media from a PMD via a userinterface associated with a television, personal computer or other userdevice. The apparatus may also enable content stored on the PMD to becopied and stored on a user's digital video recorder (DVR) or otherstorage apparatus, optionally while maintaining appropriate copyrightand digital rights management (DRM) requirements associated with thecontent being manipulated.

Furthermore, techniques and systems for intra-network resource sharingare also discussed in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/480,591 filed Jun. 8, 2009, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FORPREMISES CONTENT DISTRIBUTION,” and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,866,609 onDec. 18, 2018, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Asdiscussed therein, an apparatus manages content within a single deviceand for several devices connected to a home network to transferprotected content (including for example audiovisual or multimediacontent, applications or data) in a substantially “peer-to-peer” fashionand without resort to a central security server or other such entity.The management, transfer, and “browsing” of content on a single deviceor on a plurality of devices is accomplished via a content handler. Thecontent handler utilizes various algorithms in conjunction with several“buckets” to make management, transfer, and browsing possible. Further,a scheduling apparatus allows for the reservation of resources onmultiple devices within a network. Thus, resources may be treated as ifavailable to any of the network devices. The interfaces 402 which arebidirectional or exclusively outgoing are used by the CPE in theprovision of media streams. In some embodiments, the CPE may beintegrated in a display device and supply the media stream via digitalor analog audio/visual (A/V) ports or via serial transfer. In otherembodiments, the CPE is external to the display device, and the mediastream may also be provided over a network interface or RF port.

The memory unit 406 provides high-speed memory access to supportapplications running on the processing unit.

As previously mentioned, the mass storage unit 408 is configured tostore the live feeds, metadata, and clips. Further, the storage unitmust also be configured to support the provision of a media stream fromthe stored clips. Thus, in some embodiments the mass storage unit ismulti-modal. In some cases, this comprises archival space in lower-speedlow-cost storage (such as optical or magnetic storage systems, etc.) andhigher-speed (e.g. in terms of seeking and/or transfer operations, etc.)higher-cost and or higher-power consumption storage (e.g. flash memory,high-RPM hard drives, and/or high-speed volatile memory, etc.). In theseembodiments, the higher-speed memory would be used as a cache for activeoperations (e.g. clip parsing or media streaming, etc.).

The processing unit 404 runs a number of applications to manage theparsing of live feeds into clips, user profiles, the selection of clips,the compilation of series of clips, and the provision of media streams.To facilitate these operations the processing unit is in datacommunication with the memory unit, mass storage units, andincoming/outgoing interfaces using any number of well known bus or otherdata interface architectures.

The metadata processing application 418 reviews the metadata from theEIS and content source. Based on this metadata, the metadata processingapplication parses the live feeds into media clips as discussed abovewith respect to the headend embodiments.

As discussed above, the HRAA 420 is responsible for applying userpreferences and other profile data to compile series of clips (or singleclips). In some embodiments, the HRAA accepts inputs from the contentrules enforcement application 422.

The media stream creation 424 application uses the clips selected by theHRAA 420 to generate a media stream. The provision of these streams mayoccur via any of a number of methods. In some cases, the media isstreamed over a local IP network to a second display device.Alternatively, a peer-to-peer method may be used over the IP network. Inother embodiments, an analog or digital A/V protocol may be used to sendthe media to a directly connected or integrated display device, oralternatively a high-speed serial communication protocol is utilized. Itcan be appreciated that literally any method or protocol forprovisioning media between two (or more) operatively connected devicesmay be used consistent with present invention.

The user profile management application 426 maintains user preferencesfor use with the HRAA. In one variant, the user profile managementapplication collects user preferences as either solicited preferencesfrom a user and/or volunteered preferences. The user profile managementapplication runs a user interface to collect these preferences from theuser. Further, in some embodiments, the user profile managementapplication may also glean or passively obtain preferences frommonitoring user action with respect to content (or other related useractions).

The user profile management application may also include arecommendation engine. This recommendation engine may serve otherexternal network connected devices. In other embodiments, the userprofile management application collects data for a recommendation enginerunning on an external server. Thus, a single profile may be used onmultiple devices in either case. Whether the recommendation engine runlocally or on an external network entity, the engine still providesinput to the HRAA.

Distributed Embodiments—

Referring now to FIG. 5a , an exemplary distributed embodiment of theaforementioned content extractions and/or compilation apparatus isshown. In this case, multiple network entities 504 each comprisingstorage, memory, and/or processing capabilities (e.g. media servers)each run specific tasks and are in data communication with a network502. Any of the tasks discussed above with respect to the headend andCPE embodiments above may be distributed on to any number of networkentities. In an exemplary distributed implementation, a specific serveris responsible for recording and maintaining incoming feeds. In thiscase, another server processes the metadata, and identifies thecorresponding portions of the incoming feeds. The metadata server thensends the metadata to the feed server. The feeds server then parses theclips and forwards the clips to a CPE 106. The CPE runs a HRAA tocompile the clips into series and creates video streams for the user.

In other configurations, the individual applications discussed above arerun in a distributed fashion. In one embodiment, the portion of the HRAAthat selects clips is run on a server, and the portion of the HRAA thatorders the clips into a series for playback is run on the user's CPE.

Further, in some embodiments, the network entities may simply provisionthe clips in a video stream via the network directly to a client device224. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art given thepresent disclosure that myriad other divisions of application can bemade in various distributed embodiments according to the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 5b , an exemplary “cloud” based embodiment 550 isshown. The cloud embodiments are generally distributed architectures inwhich any one of many network entities performs a given task. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that several servers or otherentities in a managed network may be configured for the same tasks, andthe cloud 552 comprises any number of these configured entities. Thus,the cloud embodiment allows for any one of these pre-configured andpre-designated network entities to run any of the tasks discussed abovewith respect to the headend and CPE embodiments. In this regard, the MSOis offered flexibility in balancing loads and traffic on differentnetwork entities. Even as the MSO balances these network nodes, thecloud processes may be opaque to the user. Thus, the user notices nosignificant change in operation, but may notice changes in performance(to the extent the network load balance is optimized).

Further, referring back to FIG. 5a , the user may also distribute usageamong multiple devices (e.g. CPE, computers, TVs, mobile devices) evenif those devices are not always (or ever) on the same premises network.For example, the user may use both a CPE on his home network and asmartphone or tablet computer on a cellular network, or a laptop on aWi-Fi WLAN. Techniques and architectures for provisioning such mobiledevices will be discussed in the next section.

Mobile Devices—

In some embodiments, a user may receive, view, or request the clips on awireless mobile device. In these embodiments, the user connects to amedia server using a browser, guide application, or other application,and the clips are provisioned to user via the network to which thewireless device is connected. The wireless network associated with thedevice may be any of those mentioned above, and may further include WLAN(e.g., Wi-Fi) or cellular technologies such as 3G and 4G technologies(e.g. GSM, UMTS, CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, EV-DO, 3GPP standards, LTE,LTE-A, EDGE, GPRS, HSPA, HSPA+, HSPDA, and/or HSPUA, etc.). Also thewireless link of the mobile device may be based on a combination of suchnetworks used in parallel, such as for example where the mobile deviceis a hybrid phone capable of utilizing multiple air interfaces (evensimultaneously). Further, in some embodiments, the mobile device mayforeword clips or other content provisioned through the network to otherclient devices via the same or a second network (e.g., receive via LTE,and forward via WLAN or PAN such as IEEE 802.15).

In some embodiments, the mobile device comprises a display unit such asa touch-screen display and input device. The display unit is used for,inter alia, displaying requested clips and presenting information andoptions to the user. Further, audio and even tactile (e.g., vibrational)hardware may be included for presentation of content through otherphysical sensations.

The mobile device includes a user interface for managing direct userrequests, user management of applications, and other functions. In someembodiments, the user interface comprises one or more soft-function keyson the aforementioned display device to allow for contextual input froma user. However, in light of this disclosure, it can be appreciated thata multitude of user interface implementations (including physicalbuttons, switches, touchpads, scroll wheels/balls, etc.) can be used inaccordance with the present invention.

Exemplary methods and apparatus for providing media to IP-based mobiledevices are presented in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/403,802 filed Feb. 23, 2012 and entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS FORPROVIDING CONTENT TO AN IP-ENABLED DEVICE IN A CONTENT DISTRIBUTIONNETWORK”, previously incorporated herein. As discussed therein, contentis provided to a plurality of IP-enabled devices serviced by a contentdistribution network. In one embodiment, a network architecture isdisclosed which enables delivery of content to such IP-enabled deviceswithout the use of a high-speed data connection; i.e., via anotherdistribution platform (such as for example a traditional CATV or othermanaged distribution network DOCSIS or in-band QAMs). This capabilityallows the managed network operator to provide audio/video contentservices to an IP-enabled device (e.g., mobile wireless contentrendering device such as a smartphone or tablet computer) associatedwith a non-data subscriber of the operator's network. For example, anMSO is able to make content delivery services available to asubscriber's tablet computer (e.g., iPad™) when the owner thereof doesnot subscribe to the MSO's high-speed data network or services, andinstead only subscribes to the MSO's video services. This approachadvantageously enables a user to receive content on IP-enabled devices,which are generally more mobile than non-IP devices, thereby enhancingthe user experience by allowing the user to received the content atvarious locations (as well as that specified in the subscriptionagreement; e.g., at the subscriber's premises).

See also co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/403,814 filed Feb.23, 2012, entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR CONTENT DISTRIBUTION TOPACKET-ENABLED DEVICES VIA A NETWORK BRIDGE”, and issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,426,123 on Aug. 23, 2016, previously incorporated herein, whichmay be used consistent with the present invention. As discussed therein,content is provided to a plurality of IP-enabled devices serviced by acontent distribution network. In an exemplary implementation, extantnetwork structure and function are utilized to the maximum extent inorder to minimize MSO investment in providing such services, therebyalso enhancing rapid incorporation of the technology and provision ofservices to the users/subscribers. Given that in some embodimentsnon-managed or third party networks are used to provide clip to devicesconsistent with the present invention, it will be appreciated thatconnectivity with a wide variety of devices (including wireless mobiledevices) is achieved. Further, in some implementations, a recommendationengine runs on the mobile device, which receives metadata related to theclips from a media server (e.g. VOD server, headend, or CPE, etc.), andrecommends clips or other content. If requested, the clips are thenforwarded to the mobile device from a media server (either the samemedia server or another).

The use of mobile devices further facilitates the “social” aspects ofthe present invention. Some embodiments include applications forrecommending videos to e.g., friends or family and providing incentivesto users (e.g., coupons, discounts or exclusive media, etc.) forencouraging others to participate. The invention-enabled mobile devicemay also be equipped with near-field communication (NFC) or otherwireless payment technology such as for example that set forth in ISOStd. 14443 for contactless payment, so as to facilitate use of suchcoupons, discounts, etc., such as via the well known Google Walletapproach.

Methods of Highlight Generation and Provision—

Methods useful with the exemplary systems and apparatus discussed aboveare now described.

In a salient aspect of the invention, incoming live feeds are recorded,and time-stamped metadata from sources (either internal or external)able to identify exciting moments and events is used to parse or selectportions of the live feeds, so as to permit generation clips related tothe exciting moments and events. Those clips are then sent to users forviewing. In some embodiments, a recommendation engine is used to selectclips matching interests of a particular user or group of users. Singleclips or series of clips may be sent to the matched users.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a functional block diagram detailing anexemplary method 600 for the generation of a highlight clip consistentwith the present invention is shown. At step 602 of the method 600,feeds from content sources are input into the system. The feeds arerecorded and stored by a media recording system at step 604. Therecorded feeds are then time-stamped (step 606). Time-stamped metadatafrom the excitement identification source (EIS) is received by thesystem at step 608. The time-stamps of the metadata are compared to thetime-stamps of the recorded feeds (step 610). Based on the comparisonstep 610, a clip is taken from the feed at step 612 if the metadataindicates the clip corresponds to an exciting event. The EIS metadata isassociated with the clip at step 614. The metadata and the clip are thenstored per step 616 for later viewing. Upon subsequent request from auser or automated system, the clip is sent per step 618 to a device foruse.

The clips may be presented to the user through recommendation by arecommendation engine, or by recommendation by another user or networkentity. Alternatively, the user may request clips be played. The systemmay also be used to view series of clips whether related or otherwise.

It will be appreciated that the aforementioned metadata need not accountfor all periods of the live feeds, but rather only certain portions ofinterest. Further, during clip generation, the period covered by a clipmay correspond to a shorter, longer, or identical duration to thatspecified in its associated metadata. In some embodiments, the metadataworks as a lagging indicator of excitement. For example, an excitingevent occurs and shortly thereafter it is identified. Metadata may alsobe used in an anticipatory or predictive fashion, such as where theexcitement level associated with a sporting event is predicted toincrease under certain scenarios, such as an NFL team getting within the“red zone”, the start or finish of the Indy 500, the kickoff of theSuperbowl, etc.

In some embodiments, the metadata may only include the time at whichthat particular event was identified, rather than the time of the eventitself. Thus, in such embodiments, the clip is selected so that itincludes a period leading up to the time identified in the metadata. Inother embodiments, the metadata provides time detail about the actualevent, in addition to the time of identification. Thus, the duration ofa clip may correspond directly to the times provided in the metadata.However, it should be noted that a clip may still be extended ortruncated in relation to the times provided by the metadata. An eventmay be identified in a time-stamped metadata file, but the MSO may wishto include surrounding material based on user preferences or contentsource rules. For example, an exciting play is a sports event may beidentified, but the MSO provides a clip of the entire quarter comprisingthe event. Alternatively, an entire quarter is highlighted as excitingby the metadata, but the MSO only generates a single clip or series ofclips from the exciting quarter. Thus, a “video snack” is presented tothe user, as opposed to a long piece of content.

In embodiments involving previously broadcast material, includingmaterial only broadcast minutes or seconds prior, the technology to“lookback” at this material for review is important. Methods andapparatus for subsequent review and manipulation of previously broadcastcontent are discussed in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/913,064 filed Aug. 6, 2004 and entitled “TECHNIQUE FOR DELIVERINGPROGRAMMING CONTENT BASED ON A MODIFIED NETWORK PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDERSERVICE” previously incorporated herein by reference. As discussedtherein, selected programs or program channels may be afforded a networkpersonal video recorder (NPVR) service to enhance a user's enjoyment ofprogramming content. In accordance with the NPVR service, broadcastprograms (or at least those broadcast programs afforded the NPVRservice) are recorded at a headend of a content delivery network whenthey are delivered to a user at a set-top terminal. Thus, the user notonly may “reserve” for review a future program and a previouslybroadcast program, but also restart an in-progress program since it hasbeen recorded at the headend regardless of any user request. That is,the NPVR service obviates the need of a proactive effort otherwiserequired of a typical DVR user, which includes deciding and activelyelecting in advance what shows to record. In addition, the NPVR servicefurnishes trick mode functions (e.g., rewind, pause and fast-forwardfunctions) for manipulating a presentation of recorded programmingcontent. Further, the lookback service may be implemented on any devicewithin the content delivery network, including at a CPE capable ofreceiving and recording the live feeds. Thus, the feeds recorded withoutspecific (or in some cases any) user intervention may be compared to thereceived excitement metadata for the generation of clips, consistentwith the present invention.

This system may be used in review or catch-up. A user may wish to reviewall exciting clips related to a particular subject to provide then witha quick update or chance to review recent events. For example, a usermay want to review an entire season of a sports team. Highlights fromthat season that were recorded in the lookback material would then beidentified and compiled into a series of clips. Naturally, similarprocedures are used with other events (single games, news coverage,political campaigns, reality-TV, late-night shows, user-createdmaterial, TV-serials, radio programs, etc.).

In one implementation of the invention, the system utilizes pastrecordings by the user at the CPE (or NPVR) to generate recommendations.Time-stamp and source data related to past recordings (or the actualrecordings themselves) may be uploaded to the headend. The EIS metadatamay then be cross-referenced with the recordings made by the user toidentify patterns. For example, if a user has recorded the majority ofplays made by Peyton Manning, the system identifies the user as a PeytonManning fan. The system then provides other/future clips or reelsrelated to Peyton Manning (or perhaps individuals or events having lessdirect relationship, such as Eli Manning, Archie Manning, theIndianapolis Colts, etc.).

The system may also offer “collection completion.” For instance, in onesuch implementation, if a given user (or device) has recorded most ofthe content related to a given subject but has missed certain pieces,the system identifies the missing elements directly (and/or indirectly)related to that subject, and offers them to the subscriber arecommendations, part of a subscription, and/or for individual purchase.

In some embodiments, the lookback feature may be used with apicture-in-picture (PIP function to display exciting moments fromcontent while a user is viewing another piece of content. For example, arecent exciting clip from a live sporting event may be displayed on ausers screen in such a PIP window while the user is watching aconcurrent show. This is useful in a variety of circumstances. Forinstance, the system may be used to ensure that a user sees all theexciting moments of a particular piece of content without viewing theentire program. A user may not want to watch the entirety of an awardsshow, but may want to receive updates of excitement in near-real-time.

Also, the system may be used to alert a user that a particular piece ofcontent is becoming interesting. For example, an identified fan of aparticular sports team may wish to be notified when a game getsinteresting. Further, a viewer may be identified as having previouslytuned away from a “boring game” and may wish to see clips or tune backif exciting moments are occurring.

The excitement metadata may also be used to control functions other thanthe generation of clips. In some embodiments, rather than generate aclip for an event, the system may simply tune the display device to thelive feed associated with the metadata. For example, a user may beuninterested in a clip comprising an entire sporting event, but may beinterested in watching an exciting game currently in progress. Further,if a user tuned away from an event at a particular excitement level,they may wish to be automatically tuned back if the excitement levelincreases from that particular level (e.g., “delta excitement”).

In addition, a user may want to be automatically tuned to any contentabove a certain threshold of excitement. In these embodiments, conflictsmay be resolved by tuning to the most exciting event among a group ofevents above the threshold, or other defaults or user preferences maydictate a resolution (e.g. always prioritizing a favorite subject of theuser or a favorite team/player, etc.) Further, in other variants, anon-screen display option to tune to an exciting game is presented inlieu of automatic tuning. In light of the present disclosure, it canalso be appreciated that the system may be used to avoid exciting events(e.g. a user may only find games enjoyable/relaxing when their favoriteteam has a comfortable lead, and may wish to be warned before tuning toa pitched battle). Anecdotal evidence indicates that those regularlywatching exciting sporting events, especially where they have a vestedinterest or emotional connection to the team(s), actually tends toshorten one's life span. Thus, the system may also direct a user awayfrom an event above a certain threshold of excitement, such as tomaintain their peace or in effect extend their life over that whichmight exist if the events were routinely watched.

In a similar vein, news programming, which frequently and consistentlyfocuses on potentially disturbing events or negative aspects of humanity(e.g., crimes, plane crashes, accidents, etc.) is often equated withinciting depression or other emotional disabilities within peoplewatching them on a routine basis. Hence, metrics similar to “excitement”may be used when evaluating content such as news programs, such as forexample a “negativity” index wherein emotionally upsetting stories suchas murders or plane crashes are tuned away from, while more positiveportions such as weather forecasts or human interest stories aremaintained.

Movies for example might use a “suspense/tension” or “hilarity” metric,so as to cue users to (or away from) suspenseful or humorous portionsthereof.

Content rules are also considered when providing clips to users. Userslacking the subscription level to view particular piece of content maynot be able to view all related clips. However, in some embodiments,highlights below a certain time threshold may still be provided.Further, exciting clips may be used as “teasers” to entice a user toupgrade their subscription level or purchase a specific piece ofcontent.

In other variants, a user may be able to subscribe to an “excitementticket”, where all material highlighted by a specified EIS (or multipleEIS's) is available to that user. In some variants, the ticket islimited to a specific subject (e.g. a certain team or sport, etc.), ormay range across multiple different topical areas or genres. Differentpremiums are charged based on the nature of the specific “tickets”.

In yet other variants, the user is charged on a per-clip and/or per-reelbasis. Some subscribers may prefer such ala carte availability of clipsor reels. Furthermore, the MSO may see wider initial adoption of theservice if users are not forced to commit to larger fees allowingrepeated use.

Further, such excitement metadata may be used in the assessment ofpremiums charged to secondary content providers such as advertisers. Insome embodiments, content with increased expectation of excitement maygarner a higher fee for the insertion of secondary content. Further,given that exciting clips have greater replay likelihood, attachingsecondary content to the replays of that clip warrants higher premiums.Excitement metadata may also be used in real-time in this fashion, in anexemplary embodiment, a secondary content source may select a threshold(or thresholds) at which they want to have their content inserted formaximum effect. Even allowing participation in such a targeted secondarycontent insertion service may warrant a service fee (separate from thatassociated with actual insertion of secondary content).

Methods and apparatus for the insertion of secondary content and the useof advertising “avails” are discussed in commonly owned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/503,749 filed Jul. 15, 2009, entitled “METHODSAND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING AN AUDIENCE IN A CONTENT-BASED NETWORK”,which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,178,634 on Nov. 3, 2015 and isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As discussed therein,the identification, creation, and distribution of audience or viewerqualities to an advertisement management system and/or an advertisementdecision maker are disclosed. The system provides viewership data inreal-time (or near-real time), and offers the ability to monitoraudience activities regarding, inter alia, broadcast, VOD, and DVRcontent. This system advantageously allows the content provider tocreate more targeted advertising campaigns through use of an algorithmthat combines advertising placement opportunities with audiencequalifiers (i.e., psychographic, geographic, demographic,characteristic, etc. classifications) to create an advertising“inventory” that can be more readily monetized. In different variants,the inventory can be based on historical and/or “real time” data, suchthat adverting placements can be conducted dynamically based onprevailing audience characteristics or constituency at that time.Methods and apparatus for managing such advertising inventory via amanagement system are also discussed.

Referring now to FIG. 7a , a method 700 of generating EIS metadata isshown. This method is useful with, inter alia, the excitement monitoringapplication described above. However, in light of the disclosure it canbe appreciated that a dedicated device or distributed application mayalso be used.

First, at step 702 of the method 700, an excitement or other metricrelated to a live feed or piece is assessed. At step 704, it isdetermined if the assessed metric meets a given threshold criterion orcriteria. If the criterion/criteria is/are not met, no metadata isgenerated. If the criterion/criteria is/are met, metadata is created atstep 706. Information identifying the content or feed is added (step708), and a time-stamp is created (step 710). At step 712, the metadatais passed on to the automated highlight reel system or other systemdependent on the excitement or other metadata. Thus, a method forgenerating metadata related to exciting events is presented.

Referring now to FIG. 7b , a second method 750 of generating EISmetadata is shown. Periodic measurements 752 of an excitement or othermetric related to a live feed or piece of content are made. At eachinterval 754, excitement metadata is generated. The metadata istime-stamped at step 756 of the method 750. Feed or content identifyingdata is added to the metadata at step 758. At step 760, the metadata ispassed to the automated highlight reel system or other system dependenton the excitement metadata. Through this method, periodic updates on thelevel of excitement related to specific feeds or content are created.

A number of excitement metrics may be implemented consistent with theinvention. Simple metrics related to the content may be used. Forexample, the score of a game is an indicator of excitement. A close gamemay be more exciting than one with a large differential. However, arecord-breaking (or near record-breaking) blowout would be of interestto many users. Thus, interest may be mapped to (i) absolute score;and/or (ii) differential or relative score, but not necessarily in alinear fashion.

Further, lead changes, or changes or large changes in score oftenindicate excitement. Thus, for example points per unit of time (e.g.,excitement “velocity” or even “acceleration”) can be also used as anexcitement metric. Similarly, the number of times the lead is changed,or the rate at which lead changes occur per unit time (indicating apitched battle) also indicates excitement. The temporal placement ofsuch changes also may indicate excitement (i.e., lead changes in thefirst quarter of a game are generally less exciting than those occurringin the fourth quarter, since the latter have more immediate relationshipto the final outcome of the game.

The level of noise produced by the crowd (where present) may alsoindicate excitement. Times of loud cheering or booing indicateexcitement. Furthermore, times of unusual silence (or unexpected breaksin cheering) may indicate particularly tense or surprising moments, orat events such as a tennis or golf match, times of intense competition.

At a car race (e.g., Indy 500), vehicle velocity may be an indicator ofexcitement level. For example, if the cars are averaging 100 mph, it islikely that a crash has occurred, and the yellow flag is out (which canbe viewed as potentially exciting for the more morbid person, or lessexciting for those interested in high-speed racing and maneuvering).

In some embodiments, the records of teams and/or players are used topredict excitement. For example, if two teams have won and lost to thesame or similar teams it is predicted that their own direct matchup willbe a close one. This can also be considered in light of their currentstandings; two teams who have had exciting matches in the past may beconsidered of less interest if one of the teams has e.g., already lockedup a playoff berth, while the other has been excluded from the playoffs.

Similarly, in the field of politics, the news coverage of an electionmay be of increased excitement if two candidates have been pollingsimilarly in a given region.

In some embodiments, the number of posts (Twitter, Facebook (likes orposts), blog, website comments, etc.) related to specific content areused as a metric. A large absolute number of posts may indicate highlevels of interest. However, some embodiments of the invention accountfor the expected interest in a certain event (i.e., even a “boring”Superbowl will have a large absolute number of posts, or for instance alarge money market baseball team will have more expected posts than asmaller market team). Thus, the absolute number of posts is weightedversus an expected number when gauging excitement.

Web crawling applications can be used to collect and assess such postseither from single sources are multiple sources. Further, social mediasites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter, etc.) may offer live counts bysubject of posts made on their servers.

The subject of posts may be considered in the assessment of posts.Machine plain language learning algorithms can be used to glean datafrom the posts relating to context. For example, positive posts aboutcertain content may indicate general excitement, and negative posts mayindicate an uninteresting game. Further, a mix of positive and negativeposts may indicate an unexciting event (i.e., the fans of the winningand losing teams in a blowout), even in the case in which the absolutenumber of posts is high. Such plain language learning and contextualanalysis algorithms are useful in classifying the content of a givenpost.

Further, in some embodiments, metrics directed by the MSO are used. Forexample, the users of the MSO's network may be presented with anexcitement option (on-screen display option, remote button, soft key, ormobile application, etc.) that allow users to highlight exciting momentsin the feeds or content provided by the MSO. When, the user engages theoption, the MSO logs the entry. The excitement associated with the clipis associated with the number of such entries. In some variants, theexcitement may also be weighed against the total number of viewers. Forexample if 98% of the active viewers find a feed exciting, a higherexcitement rating may be assessed, even in comparison to a feed with ahigher absolute number of entries but with only 30% of active viewerresponding. It can be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in view ofthis disclosure, that any number of such “crowd-sourcing” systems todevelop aggregate opinions of many users can be applied.

In other embodiments, such excitement options are modified to allowusers to create their own custom excitement reels for later viewingand/or sharing with other users. Users may identify start and stop timesfor individual clips. Then, in an editing application, the user arrangesthose clips into a reel. The editing program may also provide tools foraltering the clips themselves (e.g. changing clip duration, zooming,adding audio or text commentary, cropping, filter effects, etc.). Theclips/reels are then stored on a CPE or uploaded to a content server.Uploaded content may be shared with other users, or even more broadlyvia social media such as Youtube or the like.

In addition, the MSO may maintain fronts on social websites, for exampleby allowing users to “like” or “follow” particular feeds to indicateinterest.

In certain variants of such MSO directed schemes, incentives may be usedto increase participation or accuracy. Accuracy may be judged by thetotal number of times a user identifies a feed or piece of contentexciting, versus the number of times enough other users also find thatfeed or piece of content exciting to exceed the excitement threshold.Honors or discounts may be given to highly active and/or accurate users.For example, if a user is involved in the identification of 100 excitingevents, a discount or other incentive on service may be given. Further,in some cases the discount may only be available to users withaccuracies above a specific threshold (to discourage “spamming” orrandom identifications to inflate participation.)

In other variants of such MSO directed schemes, a futures market may beused to predict excitement. Participants supply/purchase a series of“puts” (option to sell) and/or “calls” (option to buy) as to whetherspecific shows will rise above or fall below a given excitement level.Users then may do background research on various events (e.g. sportingevents, political debates, etc.) to gain an advantage over other userswhile trading and selling these options. This model applies amarket-based approach to prediction. Thus, the system leveragespotentially extensive individual user research on a large scale. Thesystem may or may not use money, or other forms of consideration/value.In certain variants, the participants trade credits toward subscriptionexpenses rather than actual funds. Yet other variants include a“contest” with point trading rather than money or credits, and the mostsuccessful trader(s) (those with highest point totals) may be givenconsideration (e.g. prizes, discounts, promotions, notoriety, etc.).

Multiple metrics may be combined to increase the accuracy of anassessment. For instance, an anomalous number of posts about a sportingevent may simply be a statistical aberration if there is no scoring dataof particular interest. Alternatively, one metric may be faulty for agiven reason (one would expect muted cheers if the away team wins a gameor make great plays, even if the game was exciting.) Thus, monitoringmultiple metrics can ensure that over-reliance on particular metric doesnot occur.

In other embodiments, mathematical analyses are applied to the metricsmeasured. In models similar to those used in decision making inhigh-frequency trading, a MSO monitors one or more metrics, and suchmodels are used to predict the likelihood a given trend continues over agiven time scale. For example, if one specific minute of an event isfound to be exciting, such a model provides probabilities that the nextminute will be exciting. Such models may be tailored to time scalesranging from less than one minute up to one month. Functional forms,such as those discussed in “Scaling of the distribution of fluctuationsof financial market indices” by P. Gopikrishnan, et al., incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety, may be used to generate theaforementioned probabilistic models. As discussed therein, power-lawasymptotic functions are used to model the temporal distribution ofextreme events (such as those associated with high-level of excitement).

It will be appreciated that while the exemplary embodiments of theinvention have been discussed primarily in terms of providing content tosubscribers, the invention is in no way so limited. The invention mayalso be applied in other contexts. For example, in the field of sports,when a game is identified as “exciting”, it may be the case that theteams are well matched. Thus, coaches/players may be interested inintelligence related to the opposing team. The present invention may beapplied to generate a reel of clips useful in such research. Forinstance, the system may be utilized to automatically create a reelcontaining every passing play in a given season for a given team (orwhen a given quarterback was in play). The reel may then be used toidentify patterns and weaknesses in the opposing team's strategy. Thesystem may also be used on proprietary content not publically released.For example, the present invention may be applied to camera angles thatshow the position of every player on a football field. Such cameraangles are not generally aired on TV, but the system may be applied tothe proprietary archive of an organization, rather than exclusively tocontent in an MSO's archive. The team may then purchase or receive suchreels as a subscription service or on a per reel basis.

As another exemplary application (in the field of politics), a campaignmay be interested in highlighting their candidate's best moments (e.g.,speeches, town hall meeting, bill passages, leadership in crises, etc.)for an “instant commercial” or other campaign montage, such as for pressrelease, documentary, website post, or advertisements, etc. The presentinvention may be applied to automatically locate a collection of suchclips, and compose them into a highlight reel. The reel may then bepurchased by the campaign. In a similar vein, the present invention mayalso be applied to opposition research. A campaign may be equallyinterested in a collection of clips that portray their opponent in theworst light (e.g. gaffes, poor past decisions, critical press coverage,etc.) to make an instant negative advertisement.

Further, using the present invention, such reels may be targeted to orcomposed for individual viewers or subscribers based on their interestsor demographic information. For example, a given subscriber may havevery specific views on taxes. In this case, the system composes a reelin which every clip relates to the candidate's position/history ontaxes. Thus, campaigns may not only purchase premade reels for generalrelease; using the present invention, a service for making and/ordelivering targeted advertising may be provided to a campaign. In somesuch targeted political advertising embodiments, the campaign may supplya collection of content from its own archive for the creation of thehighlight reels.

Hence, various aspects of the present invention may be used in virtuallyany context in which an individual or group is in interested in a“highlight” (or lowlight) reel or other montage of contextually relatedmedia. For example, event planners often require such highlight reelsfor social events (company meetings, conventions, birthdays, concerts,etc.). Reels for these events may be made on a contractual basis, orsimply compiled and then made available for purchase. These reels may becreated from a content archive maintained by an MSO, or from a privatelibrary maintained by the recipient or third party. For example, cloudor online video/picture upload sites may use the present invention tooffer their users instant highlight reels from the uploaded contentstored on the site.

It will be recognized that while certain aspects of the invention aredescribed in terms of a specific sequence of steps of a method, thesedescriptions are only illustrative of the broader methods of theinvention, and may be modified as required by the particularapplication. Certain steps may be rendered unnecessary or optional undercertain circumstances. Additionally, certain steps or functionality maybe added to the disclosed embodiments, or the order of performance oftwo or more steps permuted. All such variations are considered to beencompassed within the invention disclosed and claimed herein.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments,it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changesin the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Thisdescription is in no way meant to be limiting, but rather should betaken as illustrative of the general principles of the invention. Thescope of the invention should be determined with reference to theclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computerized method for identificationidentifying one or more digital content streams of a certain level ofuser interest in a content delivery network, the computerized methodcomprising: monitoring, based on at least one metric, the one or moredigital content streams of a first content source; determining, based atleast on the at least one monitoring, whether a threshold for the metricis met for at least a portion of the one or more digital contentstreams, the meeting of the threshold indicating the certain level ofuser interest; based on the determining indicating that the thresholdfor the metric is met, utilizing one or more second content sources tocorroborate that at least the portion of the one or more digital contentstreams meets the certain level of user interest; and based at least onthe corroboration indicating that at least the portion of the one ormore digital content streams meets the certain level of user interest,recording the at least portion of the one or more digital contentstreams.
 2. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the monitoringcomprises monitoring data relating to a negativity index.
 3. Thecomputerized method of claim 2, wherein the monitoring of the datarelating to the negativity index comprises algorithmically identifyingat least one of: (i) a disturbing event, or (ii) negative aspects ofhumanity.
 4. The computerized method of claim 2, wherein the monitoringof the data relating to the negativity index comprises algorithmicallymonitoring of data relating to at least one of a level of: (i) suspense,(ii) tension, or (iii) humor.
 5. The computerized method of claim 1,wherein the monitoring comprises determining that the one or moredigital content streams are associated with a prescribed usersubscription level.
 6. The computerized method of claim 5, wherein thedetermining that the one or more digital content streams are associatedwith the prescribed user subscription level comprises identifying datarelating to a user subscription to an excitement ticket, the excitementticket configured to utilize metadata generated by an excitementidentification source (EIS) computerized process.
 7. The computerizedmethod of claim 5, wherein the determining that the one or more digitalcontent streams are associated with the prescribed user subscriptionlevel comprises identifying data relating to a user subscription to aticket, the ticket limited to one or more subjects, the one or moresubjects specified by metadata.
 8. The computerized method of claim 7,wherein the identifying of the data relating to the user subscription tothe ticket limited to the one or more subjects comprises identifying ofthe data relating to the user subscription to the ticket limited to atleast one of: (i) a particular team, or (ii) a particular sport.
 9. Thecomputerized method of claim 1, further comprising causing delivery ofthe portion of the one or more digital content streams to at least onecomputerized client device, wherein other portions of the one or moredigital content streams are not available to the computerized clientdevice at the time of the delivery.
 10. Computer readable apparatuscomprising a non-transitory storage medium, the non-transitory storagemedium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality ofinstructions, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executedon a digital processing apparatus of a computerized device, cause thecomputerized device to: assess, based on data relating to at least onemetric and using the at least one computer program, digitally renderedcontent associated with a first digital content source; based at leaston the assessment, utilize the at least one computer program todetermine whether one or more criteria are met with respect to thedigitally rendered content, so as to determine a prescribed level ofuser interest; utilize data relating to one or more second digitalcontent sources to corroborate the determination; and based at least onthe corroboration, cause distribution of the digitally rendered contentto at least one computerized client device via a content deliverynetwork.
 11. The computer readable apparatus of claim 10, wherein thedigitally rendered content is unavailable for playback until aprescribed time, and the causation of the distribution of the digitallyrendered content to the at least one computerized client device via thecontent delivery network comprises: generation of an ordered series of aplurality of digital content elements, the plurality of digital contentelements comprising the digitally rendered content, the generation ofthe ordered series comprising algorithmic arrangement of the digitallyrendered content in the ordered series such that playback of thedigitally rendered content is available when playback of the orderedseries reaches the digital content element; and enablement of theplayback of the ordered series to commence prior to the prescribed time.12. The computer readable apparatus of claim 10, wherein the assessment,based on the data relating to the at least one metric, of the digitallyrendered content comprises execution of computerized logic configuredto: monitor data associated with the digitally rendered contentutilizing the data relating to the at least one metric; utilize at leastthe data relating to of the at least one metric to determine a value forthe digitally rendered content; and determine that the value meets orexceeds a prescribed threshold value.
 13. The computer readableapparatus of claim 12, wherein: the first content source comprises asocial media site; the at least one metric comprises an absolute numberof posts related to a subject; and wherein the determination that thevalue meets or exceeds the prescribed threshold value comprises aweighting of an absolute number of posts against an expected number ofposts related to the subject.
 14. The computer readable apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein the utilization of at least the data relating to theat least one metric to determine the value for the digitally renderedcontent comprises periodic assessments of the data relating to the atleast one metric via one or more streams of live feed data. 15.Computerized network apparatus configured for substantially automatedidentification of digitally rendered content for use by one or moreusers of a managed content delivery network, the computerized networkapparatus comprising: server apparatus comprising: digital processorapparatus; network interface apparatus in data communication with theprocessor apparatus; and storage apparatus in data communication withthe digital processor apparatus, the storage apparatus comprising atleast one computer program configured to, when executed on the digitalprocessor apparatus, cause the computerized network apparatus to:receive first data from one or more first content sources, said firstdata relating to an event or subject; perform an algorithmic evaluationof said first data to (i) derive a value representative of a level ofinterest to the one or more users with respect to the event or subject,and (ii) determine whether the derived value meets or exceeds aprescribed threshold; utilize second data from one or more secondcontent sources to corroborate at least one of the derivation or thedetermination; and based at least on (i) a determination that thederived value meets or exceeds the prescribed threshold, and (ii) thecorroboration of the at least one of the derivation or thedetermination, cause delivery of a digital content element relating tothe event or subject to one or more computerized client devicesrespectively associated with the one or more users via the managedcontent delivery network.
 16. The computerized network apparatus ofclaim 15, wherein the at least one computer program is furtherconfigured to, when executed on the digital processor apparatus, causethe computerized network apparatus to: determine at least one attributeshared between a plurality of users associated with a content deliverynetwork, the determination comprising an analysis of data relating tothe plurality of users using at least one algorithm of the at least onecomputer program; receive data representative of user preferenceassociated with at least two or more of the plurality of users regardingat least a portion of one or more digital data streams, the at least twoor more of the plurality of users comprising the one or more users; andcreate a logical grouping comprising at least the two or more of theplurality of users; wherein the digital content element is associatedwith the at least one attribute; and the delivery of the digital contentelement comprises provision of the digital content element to the atleast two or more users of the logical grouping only within a certainperiod of time during a day or week, in accordance with the userpreference.
 17. The computerized network apparatus of claim 15, whereinthe receipt of the first data from the one or more first content sourcescomprises an algorithmic monitoring of data relating to live commentaryaccessed via a social media Internet website.
 18. The computerizednetwork apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one computer programis further configured to, when executed on the digital processorapparatus, cause the computerized network apparatus to: provide the oneor more users each with a user interface, the user interface configuredto allow the one or more users to provide input so as to identify the atleast one metric.
 19. The computerized network apparatus of claim 15,wherein the evaluation of said first data to determine whether the valuemeets or exceeds the prescribed threshold comprises an application ofone or more machine intelligence algorithms to obtain context datarelating to the first data, and determine a classification relatingthereto.
 20. The computerized network apparatus of claim 15, wherein thereceipt of the first data from the one or more first content sourcescomprises a monitoring of a social media site for a number of hashtagsassociated with the event or subject.